Shanghaied
by JBoogle
Summary: After crash landing in the year 2517, the Doctor ventures out with River Song to hopefully find temporary spare parts for the TARDIS, only to get taken by the crew of Serenity.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright this is my first time writing a Doctor Who fic! I've been looking for a good adventure/cross over with Firefly and the 11th Doctor, but there are very few out there unfortunately! So I just thought I'd jump the gun and write my own! This isn't meant to be relationship based, just some fun adventures with the Doctor Who and Firefly crews! Though I'm a big Doctor/River (Song) fan, I don't want that to be the main focus of the story, so sorry if that's what you were looking for (or any other pairing for that matter)! I've already mapped out the whole of the story, so don't worry about there not being updates for months on end! I may end up just keeping it to once or twice a week for updates (minimum) there's the possibility that I update more than that each week, but no promises will be made! Enjoy!**

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><p>It was the days when he could've sworn that the control room was in tip top shape, polished and looking as sexy as ever, when somehow he'd blink and it was as if a tornado had just passed through. Shirts would be hanging over handrails, pants shoved into even the smallest corners, molding food found under a pair of lacy unmentionables, mud streaks from dirty sneakers would leave the ground looking and smelling like a pig farm, and other questionable stains would appear out of thin air wherever he scanned the room. He loved having the Ponds aboard the TARDIS. He really did. Though, on certain occasions, the Doctor had to remind himself that.<p>

A dart went whizzing past his face, nicking the tip of his nose slightly. And on certain occasions he had to remind himself _several_ times.

"Oi! Stupid face! The dart board is the other way!" The feisty Scottish red-head smacked her husband on the chest.

"Yeah I realize this. It's not like I _meant_ for it to slip out of my fingers." Rory said defeatedly.

"Well it wouldn't have mattered anyway 'cos I'm still ahead of you by 30!" Amy chirped in her 'I'm better than you' voice.

"Oh yeah sure, only because you keep interrupting my concentration every time I'm about to throw my darts!" Rory argued back.

"Boo, I sneezed! Get over it already won't you? Besides, you take too long of a turn. It shouldn't take someone 5 minutes to 'eye the perfect spot' on the board." Her fingers made imaginary quotation marks in the air, "Quit being such a baby about it." She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"I wouldn't need 5 minutes to get ready if you would stop trying to trip me up!" He flailed his arms about in an attempt to mimic her 'evil ways.'

"My god! Does it ever end? You two are like a couple of toddlers! Rory, just admit that you can't play darts if your life depended on it. Amy, stop being a cheat. Now shush, kiss and make up already." The Doctor wiggled his fingers at the couple, hoping to stop their bickering.

The married couple both had their arms crossed but did as the Doctor told...quite reluctantly.

"Good, good! Now that we're all happy and not arguing-y, I'd like for you to pick up the mess you've made." His arms spread as he motioned about the control room. "I never knew messes like this even existed!" He said to himself, disturbed at each new part of the mess that was _still_ coming in to view.

Amy groaned looking around. "Now? But aren't we about to go someplace new? You still owe us Rio."

"I'm fine with picking up so long as we can keep you away from the bars and such." Rory mumbled under his breath. It's not that he didn't like drinking. He was just always worried about Amy, especially when she got drunk. And started picking fights with random people...or aliens. And/or started losing articles of clothing throughout the night. Not that he didn't like her losing pieces of clothing. He just didn't like when others saw her breasts and...other parts, hanging out.

"What was that?" The red-head raised a suspicious eyebrow towards her husband.

"Nothing. Nothing at all!" He said all too quickly.

"Uh huh...Anyway, _Doctor_, we haven't gone anywhere exciting lately! Take us somewhere exciting!" She whined like a spoiled little girl.

"Nowhere exciting? Nowhere exciting! Are you serious! You're bajillions of miles from home, in a time machine, bajillions of years in the future, and this doesn't excite you!" The Doctor said exasperated. How could she not find this fun and exciting? How come anyone that accompanied him on his travels always said the same thing? "I swear it's always, _'take me somewhere exciting Doctor!'_ Or _'that's it?'_" He mocked in a kid-like voice. "You humans always get riled up about getting in a time machine, and then in a split second find it all...all...boring! How can you find it boring?" He sighed running his hands through his hair.

Taking a more serious note he climbed down the steps towards the Ponds. He began circling the two, examining every inch of them. "Are you _sure_ you're human..." He squinted his as he made eye contact with Rory.

Rory nervously began looking anywhere but at the Doctor. To this day he was still intimidated by the Time Lord. He hated admitting it after spending months with him, but it was hard to get over those feelings when he _wasn't_ entirely positive if his wife _was_ entirely positive about having _entirely_ no more feelings for the man...or alien. Whichever was more fitting.

The Doctor clapped his hands together when he was finally satisfied. "Right! You two. Mess. Clean it. Now!" And with that he retreated underneath the console to rewire some of the circuits and tune up...stuff. He really just tried to make it look like he was busy and couldn't talk until the room was back to normal. He honestly couldn't remember what 'normal' looked like.

It felt like hours had passed as he sat in his makeshift seat hammock thing beneath the controls. He listened to the married couple bicker every now and again about something gross Amy found that she swore she had nothing to do with. He listened to the nickname she had given Rory be tossed around like it was nothing. He knew that it was an endearing term and meant to show him that she loved him, but the Doctor still didn't get why someone would smile when their face was called stupid. Constantly. He watched Rory's gaze linger on the feisty woman as she bent over to pick some more clothes up. He smiled to himself. Those two were impossible. The Doctor turned back to the 'task at hand' and a forlorn expression soon replaced the happy one. He kept thinking about the pregnancy. Or the not pregnancy. He still didn't know which one it was. It all just felt so, so..._wrong_. How could she not remember it? Did the Silence do something to her? He shook his head at that thought. That's preposterous and, quite frankly, gross. But that still didn't change the fact that he was still having problems wrapping his brain around it all. He was a Time Lord for christ sake! Why couldn't he figure this one out?

A shiver ran through his body and he suddenly got the sense that he was being watched. The hairs on the back of his neck began to stick up as he began scanning his surroundings. Something didn't feel right.

A shadowy figure popped down to his left.

"_Doctor_!"

He jumped and all but fell out of his seat spinning around to see who, or what, it was! "Blimey! Who the—Amelia Pond! Don't scare me like that! I'm in the middle of doing important stuff that's...well important!"

"Sorry **Oh Great One**, but I'm sure your 'important stuff' can wait, the phone won't stop ringing. Besides, I'm sure that wire has been twisted enough, wouldn't you say?" She pointed down to his hands where the only wire he had been 'working on' was twisted so tight that it was about to snap in two.

"Ah. Right." The Doctor fumbled about trying to regain his coolness. He stood up fixing his jacket and bow tie before bounding up the stairs. He hadn't heard the phone ring. And when did the two finish cleaning? Hadn't he just seen them in the middle of picking up clothes? Suddenly everything was...shiny. Since when could the room look that shiny?

"We weren't sure if we should answer it, but it's been ringing nonstop for the past few minutes now." Rory brought The Doctor back up to speed with everything that was going on.

"Has it really been ringing that long? Funny. I didn't hear a thing." He glided over to the phone and answered it cooly. "Hello, hello! This is the Doctor. Who's this?...Oh! River!" His voice piped up and he sounded more excited than usual, "To what do I owe this honour? Oh wait, don't tell me. You've gotten yourself into a pickle and need me to save you?" He joked, twirling the cord around his fingers like a schoolgirl talking to her crush on the phone. "Oh I see...Right then. Where and when are you again?...Ok...No I won't be late! I'm never late...Except for that time...And that time...Oh shush, now you're just being mean!...Oh Dr. Song you naughty girl, not when I'm in front of the kids." He glanced over to the two standing to either side of him and blushed slightly when he saw Amy's raised eyebrow and Rory's averted gaze, evidently feeling awkward listening to him flirt with River. He hit his forehead to gain control over his thoughts once more, "Ah, right! Sorry you two! Anyway, River just hold on a minute. I'm coming...Wha—I didn't mean it like that! Shut up!" He slammed the phone back down, hanging up as quickly as possible. His ears began turning red at the thought she'd just put in his head at that last comment he'd made...by accident of course!

Amy was trying to suppress her giggles while Rory nudged her to be quiet.

"Alright! You said you wanted something exciting, correct?" The Doctor said regaining composure. He began flicking switches and turning knobs as fast as he could. Running around the controls faster and faster.

"Where are we going exactly, and what was that conversation _really_ about?" Amy inquired poking a bit more fun at the nervous Doctor.

Before he answered, the Time Lord pulled one last lever and shot a mischievous look at the Ponds. "Hold on!"

With that, the TARDIS began jerking around wildly as it spun towards the coordinates River had given him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Doctor Who © BBC etc, etc. (since I forgot to put this in the last chapter)**

**Firefly entrance next chapter! Chapters should be about this length or more, first chapter was just the opening one, so that's why it's shorter.**

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><p>"Alright-y then! Now, wasn't that <em>fun<em>? Wasn't that _exciting_? I thought it was!" The Doctor beamed with enthusiasm. Entertaining humans was so daunting sometimes...

"There definitely seemed to be a lot more...whooshing, bumping, and...other time travel stuff." Rory nodded in agreement.

"I'll say! For the bumping bit that is. I think I hit my head on one of the handrails. We asked for exciting, not an injury." Amy held the back of her head and grumbled a bit. She was glad, however, that they had finally gone _somewhere_. Not to mention that River would be there as well. Whenever they met up with her there always seemed to be a bit of trouble. And by trouble she meant, of course, a good amount of entertainment. Mainly when The Doctor was in the middle of it all. Which was all the time.

The Doctor looked around, paying no attention to Amy's complaint. Something seemed off with the TARDIS. Rory was right in saying that the trip had been more than just a roller coaster ride, it had, without a doubt, been more rough than usual. He stroked the machine listening to it hum. "Feeling alright, are we?" He whispered to the air. "Though you did get us to the right place," he paused checking his watch, "_and_ time! I knew you could do it old girl." He patted the controls quickly before turning around. Whatever it was that had made the ride a bit more rough could wait. First and foremost he had to find out what River needed him for. She never just called out of the blue, so there must have been something that she needed. A hiding place perhaps? She was always running from some _thing_ or some _one._

"Hey wait, you still haven't told us where and when we are yet! I need to know so I can dress accordingly!" Amy stopped The Doctor from advancing any closer to the exit. "So. Where are we, then?" Putting her hands on her hips she eyed the Doctor.

"Oh what you're wearing is perfectly fine. I'm sure it'll do just lovely. Besides, we're not exactly staying for long. Just here to pick up one River Song, and then back on the road for more adventures! Oh I guess road isn't the best term to use now is it? More like time hole. Thing. Space...or road. Yeah I'm going back to road. I take that back, road works just as well!" He said giddily. "Actually if you two could wait here for just a moment while I go fetch Miss Song?"

He went maneuvered his way around Amy and began backing towards the doors, "And no messes when I get back!" He eyed the two as he took a step backwards outside. Upon closing the doors he was met with a light smack to his bum. Startled, he jumped turning around as fast as he could.

"Hello Sweetie!" A mess of golden ringlets met his gaze. "Oh and look at that! You're only late by a couple of minutes! Not bad. I take it you missed me quite a bit then, eh? Or do I have your _girl_ to thank for that?" River smirked, eyes flicking towards the blue box.

"Oh you'd be surprised at how on time I've been lately! Which by the way I am. Your watch is just off." He raised an eyebrow slightly, mirroring the smirk back at the woman before him.

"Alright, I'll give you this one. But just this one you got that?" She eyed him playfully.

It was the Doctor who was the first to take a more serious note, "So why did you call me here anyway, Doctor Song? I take it you're in a bit of trouble and on the run again?"

"Can't a gal call up the suave Doctor just because she wants to flirt a bit?" She teased.

"You impish girl, you." He flirted back. "Now tell me why you're really here." He looked her square in the eyes this time hoping to fish out the truth somehow.

She sighed, there was no getting past the Doctor, "Alright you caught me. But I swear it's nothing major. I just thought I'd have a bit of fun, Stormcage isn't all that lively, so I just used a teensy bit of my hallucinogenic lipstick to break out for a few. So now I need you to take me somewhere they can't find me! See not too bad. Unless if we get caught. But that just makes it all the more interesting, wouldn't you agree?" She winked and lightly pushed past him to enter the TARDIS.

"River." The Doctor said firmly, grabbing hold of one of her wrists to stop her from opening the doors.

"Doctor." She said sternly.

They eyed each other for what felt like hours; the Doctor trying to find out what she was really running from, while River tried to convince him otherwise.

"So can I have my hand back now? Or do you wish to continue this staring contest a bit longer?" She looked down to his hand still holding tightly to her wrist, smiling when he failed at hiding a slight blush.

"Ah, yes. Sorry. By all means, go inside. I'm sure those two are wondering what's taking so long anyway." He motioned for her to enter the TARDIS and followed her inside.

"Ah, Amy! Rory! How are you lot doing? It's been awhile hasn't it?" River waved kindly at the two as she bounded up the steps back to the controls. She was good at putting on an act when need be.

"Hey I didn't say you could fly today!" The Doctor bellowed, chasing her up to the controls as well.

"You always say that." River flashed her customary, 'just you wait and see' faces.

Amy waited for the banter to stop before answering River's question. "We're doing fine. Except The Doctor here is reluctant on taking us somewhere new and exhilarating." She pouted slightly. "And on top of that he made us clean the whole control room! So don't make it dirty!"

"Oh did he now?" River chuckled, Amy could be so childish sometimes. "Well that's a change, usually I'm the one having to pick up after him. I swear he's like a little kid at times." She said under her breath.

"I heard that." The Doctor poked his head around the opposite side of the controls to glare at her.

"I'm sorry, what?" She smiled, feigning stupidity.

Rory just stood off to the side trying not to look awkward. Somehow he always managed to feel like the third wheel, even though there was four of them—which seemed as though it'd equal things out a bit but just never did. "So uh, River, been up to anything lately yourself?" He figured forcing the conversation onward might help ease the tension he was feeling.

"Well now, I almost forgot you were here, Rory! Always so quiet. Oh you know, just staying _in_ trouble and keeping _out_ of good." She winked at him before looking back to the Doctor with a 'don't tell them anything' face.

"Ah, I see. I think. That kind of makes sense. I guess." He wrinkled his brow trying to fit together her words into more easy terms. She was so complicated. More so than Amy. And she was a fair bit complicated herself.

"I'm just kidding, don't worry about it so much." River laughed. "So how have you and Amy been? It feels like ages since I've seen you two."

"Well we—" Before Rory could continue, the Doctor interrupted him.

"Ok, ok, enough with the catching up! Where shall we go to next? You'll have all the time in the world for chit chat once we get flying. Away from here I presume." The Doctor broke in, eyeing River anxiously. If she was on the run then whatever or whoever it was surely wasn't far behind, which meant they had to get going. Quick.

"_Finally_! Let's go! I don't care where to. Let's just get a move on!" Amy flashed a toothy grin, she was finally getting her way!

"Yes, River. Where to? I'm sure you'll know where to go." The Doctor stated, absentmindedly flicking switches as he strolled around the controls to where she was.

"First and foremost, where are we? Time-wise? Can't go jumping the gun before we get all synced up. I know we should've done this outside, but well.." River watched the Doctor freeze a few feet away. He tried not to look anyone in the eye.

He felt his cheeks grow hot as he remembered the kiss she'd given him the last time he'd seen her. It'd been so random and unexpected. And he'd just flailed his arms about like a little kid getting kissed for the first time. She always made him feel like a little kid. And he was well over 900! He coughed nervously and quickly turned around. "Ah, well. Uh." He fumbled over his words before giving up and walking back to his original position on the other side. Away from River. Far. Far. Away.

"Last we saw you was with the Silence. So it's been awhile for us." Rory was the one who answered her first seeing as the Doctor had been tongue tied at the woman's words.

"Yes, I know. I just like to see him get all _hot_ and _bothered_." River laughed raising an eyebrow to the Doctor.

Amy burst out laughing. Yes. Whenever River was around. There was definitely trouble following right behind her.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Ahem. Well now that you've had your fun, are we going to actually decide on a place to go? Rory you pick this time. You're the only nice one on here. Only nice people get to pick where I take us."

"Me? Oh, um, well...I'm not really sure. Why not just pick someplace randomly? I mean I would say _'take us here Doctor!' _But I don't exactly know where _'here'_ is. Besides, even if I did pick a place I'm sure we'd end up going someplace completely different seeing as you can never get us to the right destination." Rory muttered. How was he supposed to know where they should go? He's not the one who's seen the universe. He could have just said a random word, hoping that it was a place sometime in the future, but he'd much rather not chance looking stupid. Especially when the Doctor was such a know it all whenever they were traveling. So proud of everything he'd done and everywhere he'd been.

"Oh, you're all no fun at all! But fine. Someplace random it is. River if you'd be so kind." The Doctor nudged her aside as he began punching in random coordinates. Although he'd told her not to fly the TARDIS, she still began following him around the console flicking the _right_ switches to make sure that he didn't mess anything up. Of course she didn't turn off the brakes though, if she had then he would've caught on to her devious ways when he didn't hear his favourite _'vwhorp, vwhorp' _sound, and would've sulked the rest of the afternoon. Besides, a good ego boost to brighten his spirits would do him some good after all of the teasing.

As he flicked a final button, everything began spinning about, the ride seemed to become more and more violent with each passing second. Soon they all were being knocked over, hardly being able to hold themselves up.

"What have you done now!" River yelled across to the Doctor who was holding on to the nearest railing trying to keep standing.

"Me! _I _didn't do anything! What did _you_ do!" He hollered back.

"What's gotten in to you, girl?" River stroked the TARDIS as she was launched forward by another bump, just barely catching herself. There was a loud explosion and smoke filled the room.

"Doctor! What's happening!" Amy shrieked. She'd had some rough flying before, but nothing this turbulent. She held onto Rory's hand as tight as she could while she tried to maintain her footing. He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders helping to hold her firmly in place. But soon being knocked back over on top of her.

"Doctor, did you do anything when you were tuning up the wires?" Rory asked when he finally could be somewhat heard over sound of over worked engines. Pops and cracks echoed and soon sparks began flying out of a few of the controls.

"What?" The Doctor yelled in response. He didn't want to admit that he most likely could have been the cause for the TARDIS flying about so harshly. He hadn't actually been paying attention to how he'd been rewiring a few of the parts, so there was a high possibility that he could've accidentally put certain things together that weren't meant to be put together. He grabbed his screwdriver from his pocket and began scanning everything in sight. "Oh now that's not good at all." He said as he tried scanning a few other areas, "Very bad." He confirmed as he looked over the readings.

"Doctor!" River exclaimed. She'd been trying to get his attention but he'd too busy scanning the room.

"Not now River, I'm busy!" He yelled back.

"Look over there! At the wires! The smoke is coming from there!" She pointed down at the glass floor, showing the wiring system below. Sure enough, the smoke got blacker the closer it got to the wires. And something was glowing as well. Orange perhaps?

"No, no, no, no!" The Doctor scrambled down the stairs. A small fire had started and had begun to melt the wires. "Out! Out!" He tried blowing on it, but in doing so just added to the problem.

"Doctor blowing on a flame just makes it worse! Just stand aside and let me put it out!" Instantly River was right beside him, and was taking off her jacket.

"Taking your clothes off isn't going to help the situation!" The Doctor tried to get her to cover back up.

"Oh, shut up! I'm using it to put out the fire!" She shoved him aside and began patting the fire out. Being a small fire, it didn't take much to put it out, and soon enough she had her customary smirk on. "See, now that wasn't so hard."

A few more minutes passed when finally the loud screeching of the engines began to subside, and the ride began to settle down. The Doctor sighed in relief. At least it was just about over.

"I think it's stopped." Rory said from above realizing that it'd grown very quiet suddenly. He and Amy were currently crouched low on the floor with their hands above their heads. Well, Amy covering her's with both hands, while Rory used one to cover his own while he used the other to keep his wife safe.

There was one last big jostle that sent The Doctor toppling over onto River, knocking her down to the ground. "Oh Doctor, you're so _forward_!" She joked.

"Oh stop it, now isn't the time." He rolled his eyes, he had more important matters at hand than flirting.

"Ok I take that back. _Now_ it's stopped." Rory said apologetically. He began to stand, helping Amy back to her feet and checking to make sure she wasn't hurt. He turned her about, lifting her arms, checking for any bruises or cuts.

"Rory I'm fine, I think the most damage I've taken was when we were first stopping to pick up River. You can stop freaking out now." She smiled up at him, glad that he always showed so much concern for her. She really did love that he wasn't afraid to show his love for her. It seemed that she saw more of it each day. "Doctor, where are we?" She shook her head trying to get rid of the dizzy feeling. Though she'd just hit her head a bit before, that still didn't take away from the fact that it'd felt like they were riding in the Tea Cups ride at most carnivals.

The Doctor helped River back up and checked to make sure she was ok as well. When he was satisfied that she was fine, he leapt up the stairs to look at the scanner. "Hmm. Says that we're in the year...2517 on a planet named Three Hills..in the White Sun solar system. Ooo! What fun! I've never been here before. Wait a minute. How could I not have been here before? That's odd. Anyhow, River where's that invisible, switchy, thingy again?"

"The invisible cloaking device, Sweetie?" She strolled up and took over, pulling levers and pushing buttons that somehow the Doctor still didn't know how to use properly. Maybe that was because that took the fun out of everything, knowing how everything worked just made it all the more boring.

"There you are. How's that?" She flashed him a grin.

"Amy are you sure you're alright? You look like you're about to be sick. Your skin's gone pale...well paler than it's usual..paleness." Rory was still fussing about his Scottish girl.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. And for the record I'm not _that_ pale!" She elbowed him in the ribs. "My stomach just feels a bit...how would you say it Doctor? Wibbley wobbley?" She clutched her stomach while holding on to the nearest handrail.

"Pond, sit down before you puke and have another mess to clean up." The Doctor ordered her. "You two stay here. With the cloaking device on no one will disturb you. River and I will go out and have a look about. We'll try and find a decent shop that has some decent parts I might be able to use as temporary fixes for the controls seeing as all of the other ones are melted. But for now just rest. Nurse Rory, attend to your wife! Make sure she doesn't upchuck all over the newly polished floor." He patted both Amy and Rory on the shoulder.

"Are you ready yet Sweetie?" River had somehow moved from the center console to the door without anyone seeing. "The sooner we get going the sooner we get back." She flicked her eyes over to Amy. She knew that as soon as the red-head was feeling better, she'd get impatient and would most likely start turning random knobs, pushing buttons, and pulling levers. _'Just for a bit of fun'_, she'd say. But River knew that she desperately wanted to learn to fly the TARDIS. She could see it in her eyes. In her defense, though, who wouldn't?

"Right. Yes! Well now, you two stay put. I'm locking the door as a safety precaution for the two of you. You kids stay out of trouble while 'the wife' and I go run a couple of errands." The Doctor tipped an imaginary hat at the two, quickly grabbed a small pocket sized scanner, and began to follow River out the door. Three Hills sounded safe, but something in the pit of his stomach told him to be extra cautious. Red flags kept popping up everywhere in his mind. Luckily he was in the company of the most trigger happy woman he'd ever met, and _god_ was he thankful for at least that much. Although he didn't believe in shooting others for protection, something told him to be extra careful on this trip. He didn't like it one bit.


	3. Chapter 3

_Alright, I ended up straying away from my original plan of how everyone would meet up, so I've been working with how everything will play out this past week or so! So I apologize for my late update from what I previously said would be! Anyway, rest assured there will be updates next week now that I've reworked everything! I've made this chapter extra long to make up for the late update as well!_

_If you wish to see certain things happen drop a comment and depending on how things work out, you may just see your suggestion in future updates! _

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Firefly.**_

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><p>"Doctor, I'm fairly certain that you have us walking in circles." River groaned as she threw her head back. The two had been walking for what felt like hours and still they hadn't managed to come across a town or even a glimpse of any sort of civilization on the planet they'd crashed landed on. River was just about at her wits end, growing more feisty with each minute spent walking in the hot sun. All they could see were three giant hills, she noted the lack of originality on the naming of the planet as she wiped the sweat off her brow.<p>

"Oh stop complaining, everyone could use a good exercise every now and again. We just happen to be at it for a few hours. In the hot sun. With no water." The Doctor replied, he was starting to wish he'd paid more attention to those red flags earlier... He ran his hands through the mop of hair on his head, it had started to take on the appearance of a gelled back hairstyle with the amount of sweat he too was producing.

"Sometimes, I hate you." River stopped for a quick break, she bent over and rested her hands on her knees. Her lungs felt like they were on fire with each intake of air she took. She could feel the pores on her skin close up as the moisture was sucked up from them, her knuckles were beginning to crack from the dryness.

"No you don't, you hate the _heat_." He corrected as he stopped to wait for her, he used this as an opportunity to take his jacket off and slung it over his right shoulder. He scanned the horizon, when something in the distance caught his eye. Could that be? Possibly? Yes, it quite resembled a small house in the distance. A very, very tiny house. Maybe even a tent of some sort? But they wouldn't know for sure until they'd gotten closer. "River I think I see something up ahead." He turned back to her and held out his hand to encourage her to keep going.

She groaned loudly and grabbed it. She used her other one to lift the hair from the back of her neck, thick and heavy hair didn't help the situation one bit. Her clothes, sticky from sweat, clung to her with each step she took. "Let's hope that you're not just hallucinating." She mumbled.

"Trust me, I'm the Doctor. Since when have I let you down?" He glanced over at her with a crooked smile.

River looked back at him, and promptly let go of his hand. Her expression grew more serious and the smile she gave him wavered. She knew he could read every emotion of her, but that didn't mean she could actually _tell_ him about everything on her mind. Especially about the time back when they were dealing with the Silence. Back when he had to go and get himself killed, the idiot. It made her ache inside knowing she had to keep it all a secret. "Well then, we'll just have to wait and find out." She turned her head forward, intent on staying focused on the matter at hand. "In any case, I can't necessarily head back to the TARDIS now. God knows what kind of trouble you'd get yourself into without me around." She smirked.

They kept walking in silence for about ten minutes until the Doctor finally spoke up, "It shouldn't be that much farther. The scanner was wrong about this being a planet—probably due to the crash landing and all—but we're actually on a _moon_!" He beamed. He opened his mouth to continue when suddenly a giant space ship raced over head of them in the direction they were headed. A giant gust of wind caused dirt and rocks to be flown up all around. The two closed their eyes and covered their heads for protection. The Doctor held on tight to his jacket, enjoying the brief moment of cool air to flood over him.

"What the hell was that?" River coughed out as soon as the wind subsided. They both looked as though they'd been caught in a giant vacuum bag as they patted themselves off quickly.

"_That_ is our ticket to civilization!" He grabbed her wrist and ran as fast as he could forwards. "Where there's a space ship, there are _people_!"

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><p>"Alright we ain't got no time for dilly dallyin' so no runnin' off and no attractin' attention, mainly you two, got it?" A loud somewhat southern accent bellowed out, it belonged to Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of the ship Serenity. He and his crew were once again low on money, in desperate need of repairs, and more so on the verge of starvation. He directed his last comment to Simon and River Tam. The two had caused him enough trouble and he wasn't about to have anymore of it. They just needed to be in and out of the market to do some quick trading, and then they'd all be back on their way to someplace less barren. "We're just here to sell some goods and get goin'. Y'all can look around and such, but I better not see you buyin' anythin' you don't need. Stick close, and try not to give me a headache. Wash, Kaylee I need you two to stay here and see about any quick fixes you can do to keep Serenity up and runnin' when we do finally take off again."<p>

"Yes, sir." The pilot and engineer said in unison. Wash gave Mal a mock salute with two fingers, while Kaylee nodded her head at him.

"Shepherd, we could use your help loading up the crates on these lifts." The Captain eyed the older man with a look that said _'I ain't takin' no for an answer.' _Shepherd nodded his head and grunted in response as he moved over to where Jayne stood in front of the first crate to be loaded up. There were six crates total that they were going to sell, located to left side of the hanger looking in. They were fairly large, about the size of an average sized casket, so two people were needed to pick up just one.

"Alright old man, lets see if ya got it in ya to pick these here crates up." Jayne said from behind and slapped Shepherd on the shoulder. "We might just make a criminal outta ya yet." He said with a smug smirk on his face.

"Captain, I can't keep this ship together with baling wire and paper clips. Y'all better sell them for more than their actual worth." Kaylee put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "Alls we got left to fix 'er up is gonna be chewin' gum if we don't get some more money for actual spare parts." She scratched her nose, unintentionally leaving a small smudge of grease on her face.

"Oh trust me, I ain't gonna sell these babies for less than double. Maybe even triple. The people in this place ain't that smart anyway, so got nothin' to worry about." Mal nodded to her and smiled.

"Good cuz I'm gonna need some money for new tools too. My two good wrenches I got 6 months ago are startin' to get worn down so much that I'ma have to start repairin' _them_ before I repair this old girl!" She patted one of the railings as she retreated back up to the control room to catch up with Wash, the floor creaked with each step she took.

"Uh, should we be doing anything to help out?" A small squeaky voice piped in from the sidelines. It was Simon, he held River by her shoulders to keep her from getting in the way. She was preoccupied with staring up at the ceiling mumbling incoherently to herself and fumbling with the bottom of her shirt.

Jayne was the first to answer, "It's ok pretty boy, don't want ya breakin' a nail or anythin'."

"You just keep your looney sister out of the way and that'll do." Mal smirked as he helped Zoe lift the second to last crate.

"Sir, don't forget to bring your communicator when we leave. We're supposed to be getting a call about another job later this afternoon." Zoe grunted as she set her end down on top of the other crates already loaded up.

"Yeah, yeah I know. Got it right here. Better be somethin' good." The Captain pulled out the small device from his pocket and flashed it to her as proof. Even though he was the Captain, Zoe was always quick to keep him on his toes.

As soon as the last crate was on board, everyone went about strapping them all down to make sure nothing went flying out when they drove off. River took this as an opportunity to escape the hold her brother had on her shoulders as she bounded over to the passenger seat. "Shot gun!" She laughed as she jumped aboard.

"Hey who says you can ride in there!" Jayne yelled at her as he ran around to the front. He grabbed her wrist to try and pull her out, but she quickly fought back.

"No I want to ride here! I called it." She slapped his hands twisted away from his reach. Simon quickly made his way over to her.

"River, we can walk, the Captain and Zoe need to ride in there. Besides, I want you close so I can keep an eye on you." Simon pushed Jayne aside and gently grabbed his sister's hand. "Do it for your big brother?" He pleaded. He was already doing a bad job at keeping her out of the way as Mal had instructed, he didn't want anymore trouble.

"Damn girl ain't nothin' but trouble." Jayne huffed from behind Simon.

"Don't listen to him, River, but please just get out of there ok? We can walk with Shepherd down to the marketplace. It's not far." He tugged slightly at her arm to encourage her to get out.

"Fine." River said reluctantly, pulling her hand away and crossing her arms as she jumped out of the front seat to stand next to Simon.

"Can we get things movin' already? I said we ain't got time for dilly dallyin' boy!" Mal elbowed Simon in the ribs and climbed aboard. "Jayne ride on back. Don't want nothin' fallin' off." The tone of his voice never failing to show his annoyance.

"Yes sir!" Jayne picked up his gun that was lying carelessly to the side and jumped on the back of the crates. Zoe opened up the hanger doors before walking over to the drivers seat to start up the vehicle. "Y'all have a nice walk now." Jayne waved to the three as they left the cargo bay, the figure of them growing smaller as they drove further towards the marketplace.

Shepherd placed a hand on River's shoulder, "Your brother's right, it's not that long of a walk. Come along now." He urged her to start walking with them. She rolled her eyes but began to skip down the ramp.

"Remember to stay where I can see you." Simon called after her with a stern parental tone to his voice. He shielded his eyes as they stepped out into the sunlight.

"She'll be fine." Shepherd tried to comfort the younger man next to him.

Worry was etched into the young Doctor's face. "Yeah I guess. She's just been acting more strange lately," he sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "she keeps talking about a man with a magic box, fish sticks, and bow ties."

"Aha! What'd I tell you? I didn't see a house, I saw a _marketplace_! There's bound to be something in here that might be of use." The Doctor threw his arms wide open, motioning to the shops in front of him. They were at the end of where the shops were, but still in a marketplace nonetheless.

"Don't let it get to your head." River smirked as she watched the Doctor prance about like a little boy in a candy shop. "Let's find something to drink first, I'm starting to feel a bit light headed." She fanned herself with her hand, though not doing much with the hot air still around them.

"Yes, right. Hmm, shall we start over here?" He pointed to the closest merchant stand. "Excuse me, but do you happen to have anything to drink, my friend over here is feeling a bit dehydrated." He asked the man who ran the stand, noting the amount of blue body art he had on his arms and face.

"Money first. Then we'll talk." He said flatly and held out a hand to the Doctor.

"Oh, right...uh, River?" He glanced back at her sheepishly, silently asking her to help out.

She rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "Excuse me Sweetie." She nudged the Doctor aside and leaned forward as she placed her elbows on the counter top, making sure her cleavage was showing enough. _'Like hell I'm paying for water'_ she thought to herself. She put on her best damsel-in-distress-voice, "Excuse me, but I'm very quite thirsty and don't happen to have any money on me at the moment."

"No money, no drink." The merchant cut her off sharply and gestured for them to leave.

"I'm sure we can come to _some_ sort of understanding." She winked at him.

"I said, no money, no drink. Now get out!" He glared at the two of them and once again motioned for them to move on.

"Alright, well thank you anyway, River let's go." The Doctor tried to coax her away as he pulled on her arm. She shot him a stern look before turning back to the merchant.

"Sweetie, be a good boy and don't interrupt me when I'm talking." She directed her comment to both men. River focussed her full attention back to the man with the celtic body art, "I don't think you understand what I'm talking about." She tried again.

"I understand completely. You say no money, I say no drink." His expression didn't waver once as he stared back at the woman before him.

"Yes, I did say that, but what I meant was there are _other_ ways of paying. Do you understand what I'm getting at _now_?" She arched an eyebrow and smirked. The Doctor didn't like what she'd began to suggest at all. River leaned forwards even more and began to bat her eyelashes, her cleavage poking out even more as she continued, "I'm sure there can be some sort of, _exchange_, that we can agree on."

The merchant looked her up and down before answering, "What'cha got to offer?" He raised an eyebrow and smirked. The Doctor scoffed at the lust in the merchant's eyes, humans and their..._needs_. It was disgusting sometimes.

"Ah, now you get what I mean." She licked her bottom lip suggestively.

"River I don't think this is necessary!" The Doctor tried to chime in but was quickly hushed. He didn't like what she was getting at one bit!

"Oh I've got _loads_ to offer." She motioned for him to come closer as she whispered in his ear. The merchant coughed slightly, then quickly motioned for her to follow him.

River turned back to the Doctor, "This won't take long." She winked at him and followed the man to the back where crates blocked the view from the front. The Doctor stood awkwardly outside, kicking dirt around with his shoes. He couldn't understand the woman sometimes. It was only water, they could have easily gone to a different stand. He sometimes wondered, from the amount of experience she seemed to hold, what profession River used to have before Stormcage. She was no Professor yet, and although she was an Archaeologist now, that didn't mean she could have _dabbled_ in other stuff in her youth. The thought made him sick.

A few moments passed when struggling could be heard from where River had gone. He felt his stomach flip as he hoped nothing bad happened. "River?" the Doctor was about to make his way to where the two had gone when the woman finally emerged. "What was that noise all about?" He tried to look behind her and managed to see a foot poking out, but nothing more.

"Oh nothing, I just tied him up and took all of his money. Here, catch." She said matter-of-factly as tossed the small satchel of money to the Doctor. He caught it and then quickly pocketed it. It'd been good that they were at the far end of the marketplace, no one had noticed what had just happened. "Men and their needs. I swear." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

"You bad girl." The Doctor smiled as she took a sip out of the water canteen she'd taken. "Will he be able to get loose?" He looked back to the small stand they'd left. He didn't tell her how glad he was for nothing actually happening between the two, especially when it was just for some water.

"No, we should be fine. I knocked him out with some knock-out gas, I keep it in my perfume bottle." She held out in her hand holding the bottle. "That'll keep him knocked out for a good few hours. Enough time for us to hopefully find some spare parts. Though that might not be so easy considering the TARDIS is Gallifreyan technology and we're in the early 26th century." She noted how worn down everything looked.

"And _I'm_ a Time Lord _from_ Gallifrey, I'm sure I'll be able to make use of whatever spare parts we can find." He pointed smugly to himself and fixed his bowtie.

"Yes, and as I've heard Amy say before, that doesn't mean you actually _know_ what you're doing." River laughed at the now pouting man.

They meandered through the marketplace, stopping off at different stands and shops that looked promising. With the help from River, the two were able to strike up some reasonable deals on stolen engine parts for a Modified Alliance Landing Ship for Tanks. It was quite clear that all of the merchants they'd seen and talked to were the natives from the moon they were on. They all had a variety of different blue celtic tattoos and body art on them. Which was why after half an hour in to their shopping, when the Doctor was satisfied that they had enough to work with, he was about to tell River they could start heading back when a group of people caught his eye. From what he could make out, this bunch of people looked more like a group of...cowboys.

"River, I'm going to check out what they're selling over there." He pointed to the group of _'cowboys'_ ahead of where they were. "Stay here, I'll be back." He left her by one of the many clothing stands where she was preoccupied with bagging up the parts they had.

There was a small crowd gathering around where the cowboys stood, and as he made his way closer he began to hear the sales pitch from the one in charge.

"Yes sirs and madams, you ain't gonna find a better deal than this. Come see for yourself if you don't believe me!" The man speaking began gesturing for those in front of him to step closer and examine what he was pointing to in the crate by his feet. The Doctor kept towards the back of the small crowd and watched silently. He noticed the two standing behind the man in charge, they didn't have them out but he could clearly see they had guns and were ready to use their weapons if necessary. He examined the man talking more closely. Although he had a strong and unwavering voice, he could see the hesitance in his eyes. There was a very slight, but noticeable to the Doctor, twitch underneath the man's left eye. He would look out to the crowd, but wouldn't make actual eye contact. The Doctor moved his gaze over to his colleagues. The first was a woman, with a stone like expression. He chuckled as he realized she reminded him of River, even down to her hair. She made sure to keep close to the other crates they had with them. She would silently scan each person, looking them up and down intently as if looking for something specific. Every few minutes she would switch spots with the other man keeping track of people. The other man on 'guard duty' was much bulkier and more fit than the one speaking. The Doctor noted the almost maniac look in his eye, the kind of look that was looking forward to a fight. He silently noted to keep a good safe distance from him.

There was something that told him these people couldn't be trusted, and not just because they were acting weird. He figured they were trying to scam people out of their money, which would explain their acting too uptight, but he also got a sense that if he were to stick around them for too long, then something very bad would happen. It was then that he noticed the one doing all the talking gestured for the two behind him to take over as he grabbed something out of his pocket, it looked like some communicator device. Whoever he was talking to kept the conversation short, the two only talked for what seemed seconds and he was soon back to redirecting the people in front of him. He pulled the woman close and whispered something in her ear, whatever it was he'd talked about on that communicator was definitely more important than what was in the crates, because they were soon 'shutting down business' and started to quickly ask questions quietly to each person in the crowd. He held up the communicator and was showing them whatever was on it as he questioned them. The other two quickly went back to putting the crates back on the vehicle behind them. The Doctor took this as a sign to leave and quickly turned around.

As he spun around he just about ran into a girl standing directly behind him, "Oh! Sorry about that! I didn't see you there! I didn't step on you or anything did I?" He scratched his head as he addressed the girl. She had her head tilted and was eyeing the Doctor intently. She kept looking from his bow tie to his face. He was about to speak again when she cut him off.

"Bow tie?" She asked, sounding like a little kid who didn't understand what was going on.

"Ah, yes. My bow tie. Bow ties are cool. Do you like it?" He smiled at her and studied her face. She looked like she hadn't slept in awhile, there were dark circles under her eyes and her hair looked slightly greasy and unkept.

Her eyes lit up and she started to laugh, he hoped not at him. "You're the bow tie man! I knew you'd be here. Simon! Simon, I found the bow tie man! He's here!" She kept looking at the Doctor as if he would disappear the moment she took her eyes off of him, but was talking to someone else. The Doctor heard a pair of footsteps come running up from behind him.

"What did I tell you about running off! I said to stay where I can see you!" A young man ran past the Doctor and gently grabbed the girl's face in his hands as he looked in her eyes. "You're not hurt are you?" The girl shook her head, but kept staring at the Doctor. The man sighed in relief and then turned to the Doctor. "I'm sorry, my little sister has a tendency of running off and getting herself in trouble. She didn't bother you did she?"

Before he could answer the girl interrupted, "Simon, look! Look!" She giggled as she pointed to his bow tie once more.

"Ah, so you're Simon then? Yes she does seem to be a bit amused by my bow tie, but who wouldn't. Bow ties are cool." He said in a suave manner as he ran his hands through his hair.

Simon dismissed the Doctor's statement and looked back at his sister, "River is this the man you keep talking about?" She nodded and smiled, balancing herself on the balls of her feet.

"River?" the Doctor questioned. "I have a, uh, _friend_ with that name! Which reminds me, I need to get back to her. So if you'd excuse me." He went to leave when the younger River grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you go just yet." Her voice changed to something darker as she grabbed his wrist tightly. She looked past the Doctor and called out to someone behind him, "Captain he's here! I've got the man you're looking for!"

The Doctor turned around only to find the man previously in charge of the crates looking directly at him.

"Simon, hold his other arm to keep him from running." He did as his sister directed. "We're taking him back to Serenity."

"Now hold on just a minute, I've got a mad woman with a gun who's not afraid to use it!" The Doctor tried to talk his way out of being held captive as the man called, 'Captain' began running over to where they were. "RIVER!" He called out, hoping the woman was somewhere close by.

"Now, Sweetie, what did I tell you about getting yourself in trouble?" The familiar voice came from behind the brother and sister holding him in place. The older woman had two guns out and pressed up to their backs as she continued, "Now if you don't mind. I'll be taking _him_ and leaving." She dug the guns a little bit more into their backs, Simon was the first to put his hands up and quickly grabbed his sister's as well.

"Ok, ok. He's yours." He stammered out as the Doctor quickly made his way to _his_ River silently asking where the guns came from.

They were about to turn and run when the Captain finally made his way to where they were, gun out and ready to shoot. "Now hold it right there, Miss. I ain't afraid to shoot a woman so don't think I won't."

"Don't think I'm not afraid to shoot one either." River replied, pointing both of her's at him and raising an eyebrow. "As I said, I'll be taking _him_ and leaving." She used her head to point over to the Doctor, who simply waved awkwardly at the Captain. Simon and the younger River had stepped out of the way.

Another voice from behind them stopped them from moving, "If I were you, I'd listen to what he was saying. You're surrounded, Miss. Better to drop your weapons now and come with us."

"Ah, Shepherd! Glad to see you finally join the party." The Captain spoke to the person behind them. The Doctor turned around to see an older man with white hair holding a gun at River. Where he came from, he had no idea. He just seemed to randomly appear. To their disadvantage.

"Alright, _alright_. We'll come with you. _Don't_ shoot." The Doctor glared at the two of them. Humans were so quick to kill. He looked at River and nodded for her to put her weapons down. Reluctantly she slowly bent down and put them on the ground, putting her hands in the air as she stood back up.

"Glad to see you'll be doing this the easy way." The Captain said sarcastically as he pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his back pocket. He tossed them at the Doctor, who clumsily caught them. "Put those on. Zoe!" He called behind him and the woman he was working with earlier came running over.

"Yes, sir?" She eyed the two carefully, keeping a closer eye on River. She knew from experience, and being one herself, that a woman with a gun could never be trusted.

"We'll be needing a second pair of handcuffs. You got a spare on you?" He asked her.

"Here you are sir." She grabbed a pair from inside her jacket and handed them over. Being sure to have her gun pointed at the two as she did so. Not once did she break eye contact with the two in front of her.

"Good." He tossed them to the woman next to the Doctor, she caught them with one hand and proceeded to glare at him. "You, put those on too."

She looked over at the Doctor who had finished putting his on, "Doctor?"

He just shrugged and blew his hair out of his eyes. He didn't know what was going on. He'd never met these people before in his life, and he hoped they weren't acquainted with his future self. If that were the case, he dreaded the day when he saw them again. That was to say if they made it out of this situation alive.

River sighed as she put the handcuffs on. "See Doctor, what did I tell you."

"And what might that be Miss Song?" He asked, eyeing the woman next to him.

"Our day _always_ ends with a pair of handcuffs." She said mischievously and winked.


End file.
